Lot
621

A PAIR OF DUTCH SILVER-GILT TAZZE

DELFT, 1604 AND 1606, MAKER'S MARK A BIRD'S CLAW

Price realisedGBP 385,250

EstimateGBP 200,000 - GBP 300,000

Add to Interests

A PAIR OF DUTCH SILVER-GILT TAZZE
DELFT, 1604 AND 1606, MAKER'S MARK A BIRD'S CLAW
Each circular on spreading domed foot with moulded border, chased with foliage and an ovolo band, the centres repoussé and chased with winged cherub's masks with fruit festoons between, the vase-shaped stem chased with bands of ovolo and foliage, with three openwork scroll and animal mask drop-ring brackets, with further caryatid brackets, one bowl chased with scenes emblematic of the four Seasons, divided by masks within strapwork, the detachable under plate repoussé and chased with hunting scenes, the other bowl chased with scenes emblematic of the four Elements, the detachable under plate repoussé and chased with scenes of a triton riding two hippocamps and other nautical scenes, each marked on bowl
6 in. (15 cm.) high
7 in. (19 cm.) diam.
42 oz. 19 dwt. (1,336 gr.) (2)

Lot essay

J.W. Frederiks describes the maker of these tazze as 'an exceptional craftsman, an artist endowed with sensitive feeling for the Renaissance style' and the tazze as 'undoubtedly the most beautiful of their kind' (J. W. Frederiks, Dutch Silver, The Hague, 1961, vol. IV, pp.10-11). The anonymous master of the bird's claw worked in Delft in the last quarter of the 16th, and the first quarter of the 17th century. His mark does not appear on the oldest mark plate of the silversmith's guild, which covers the period beginning 1591. We may infer from this that he became a master before that date. Only a small number of his works are known: the present pair of tazze and a pair of cups and covers made for the St. George guard in Gorinchem, now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. The cups and covers, which have stems and bases which are remarkably similar to the present tazze, had left the St. George guard by 1892 when they are recorded as being in the collection of Baron Gustave de Rothschild (M. Rosenburg, Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen, Berlin, 1928, vol. IV, no. 7608-7610). Unfortunately the guard's archives for the years after 1598 have been lost, so that we are unable to establish the identity of the anonymous master (Exhibition Catalogue, Dawn of the Golden Age, Northern Netherlandish Art, 1580-1620, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 1993-1994, nos. 89-90).

As indicated by the Latin captions, the bowl of the 1604 tazza displays the four Elements: a female resting by a tree, her right arm resting on an urn filled with fruit and flowers representing Earth; a reclining female holding a bird representing Air; a reclining female holding a flaming torch representing Fire and a female pouring water from an urn representing Water. The figure of Earth derives from an engraving by Johannes Sadeler after Maarten de Vos. Lead and bronze plaquettes of De Vos' compositions circulated widely in the 16th and 17th centuries and were frequently used as models by goldsmiths and other craftsmen. The bowl of the 1606 tazza shows personifications of the four Seasons: a female seated at the foot of a tree representing Spring; a reclining female holding a sheaf of corn representing Summer; a Bacchanalian figure holding a cup representing Autumn and an old man in a rocking chair by a fire representing Winter. At least three of these, Summer, Autumn and Winter, are based on engravings by Johannes Sadeler I after Dirk Barendsz.

The intended use of tazze such as these is shown in the painting of The Burghers of Bruges by Antoon Claeissens. The painting, which dates from 1575, depicts a number of tazze of varying form either being held in the hand as if to be drunk from or resting on the table holding food. Another tazza, also marked for Delft with a similar stem, was in the Collection of Lord Harris of Peckham (Christie's, London, 25 November 2008, lot 8).